History Main / TVTelephoneEtiquette

* Twice in ''BridgeOfSpies''. In the first scene, Abel receives a phone call from his superiors and doesn't give any sort of greeting. Later on, the American agent receives a call from an East German agent, and silently picks up the phone, listens, then hangs up without a word. One would think in that situation it would be important to verify who you're talking to.

->''Doesn't anyone say "goodbye" anymore?''

** In the KoreanDrama ''Emperor Wang Guhn'' - set in the 9th century, so well before the telephone - conversations often end with one party just saying "Chou-me" (subtitled "Well then") and wandering off.

* [[Series/{{Fearless}} Gaia Moore]] greets callers with "speak".
** TruthInTelevision: A common phone greeting in Mexico is "Diga", which means "speak".
** In Italy it is "Pronto" (see ''Series/InspectorMontalbano'') leading to the joke where an American hears people use that word on the phone and assumes it means "hello". He approaches a woman and says "Pronto" and gets a slap in the face for it. "Pronto" means "Ready".

** Rarely in any cop show will a police officer of any sort finish a call with anything resembling a "goodbye". They just jot down whatever information they need from a call, maybe verbally confirming it, then slamming the phone down and calling for their partner/subordinate to handle, or help them handle, the situation that the call was about. ''Series/NYPDBlue'' and ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' are particular repeat offenders.

* Inverted in the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Old World Blues'': After Dr Mobius delivers his terrifying broadcast from the Forbidden Dome, he caps it off with a cheerful "That is all. Bye bye."

* ''Series/TheMentalist''.
* ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]''. Nobody ever says goodbye on the phone, which is a little funny since Jack spends at least half the series on one.

* A RunningGag in the film ''Eight Heads In A Duffel Bag'' involves the primary antagonist's inability to have a normal phone conversation, usually in the form of destroying the receiver instead of saying goodbye and hanging up.
* In ''LayerCake'', the protagonist remarks "That's rude, Mr. Dragan", after the caller (a psychopathic Serbian hitman) hangs up without saying goodbye.

* ''StarWars'': Emperor Palpatine needs no comm etiquette, as is pointed out in ''ShadowsOfTheEmpire''. He has a habit of stating what he wants without greeting, then ending the conversation without any kind of farewell. His subordinates have learned to accept this as 'just one of those things'.

* In ''LawAndOrder'' (and later ''LawAndOrderSVU'') Captain Cragan invariably answered the phone by yelling "What?".

* ''{{NCIS}}'': They're repeat offenders, none worse than Gibbs, of course.
* On ''Series/{{Covert Affairs}}'', Annie calls Auggie on this early in an episode, saying that "normal people" say good-bye. He replies that it's just one more reason not to. This becomes a very minor comedic subplot, until the end of the episode, when [[spoiler: Auggie is going off on his own to seek revenge. Annie knows something is wrong when he says . . .]]

** In Italy it is "Pronto" (see ''InspectorMontalbano'') leading to the joke where an American hears people use that word on the phone and assumes it means "hello". He approaches a woman and says "Pronto" and gets a slap in the face for it. "Pronto" means "Ready".
* Parodied along with everything else on ''GarthMarenghisDarkplace''. Most of the time, characters will end even the most desperate and ominous conversations with an [[{{Bathos}} inappropriately casual]] "Bye!" At the other end of the scale;

* In ''TheGuild'', the leader of the evil guild is overtly rude over the phone. He answers the phone by stating the activity that you're interrupting, like "Journalling!" He also hangs up abruptly without saying goodbye, which confuses Cyd.

* Played for comedy in ''TheLifeAndTimesOfTim'', when Tim bungles a call from a prospective employer by hanging up when he thinks the conversation is over. After a pause, the caller continues speaking, not realizing that he's hung up.

* ''TheBradyBunch'': Mike calls a friend of his about a problem; he jumps right into the topic and doesn't say goodbye. Robert Reed wrote one of his many scathing memos about this scene.
* [[{{Fearless}} Gaia Moore]] greets callers with "speak".

* In a nutshell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APUQeQalRsU

* "What?" is Miss Parker of ''ThePretender'''s signature greeting.
* ''TheMentalist''.

* Characters on ''{{Seinfeld}}'' seemed to have a particular aversion to saying goodbye.
* Debra Morgan on ''{{Dexter}}'' is also really bad with this.

** Apparently, in Italy it is "Pronto" leading to the joke where an American hears people use that word on the phone and assumes it means "hello". He approaches a woman and says "Pronto" and gets a slap in the face for it. "Pronto" means "Ready".

* Played for comedy in ''TheLifeAndTimesOfTim'', when Tim bungles a a call from a prospective employer by hanging up when he thinks the conversation is over. After a pause, the caller continues speaking, not realizing that he's hung up.

* On ''CovertAffairs'', Annie calls Auggie on this early in an episode, saying that "normal people" say good-bye. He replies that it's just one more reason not to. This becomes a very minor comedic subplot, until the end of the episode, when [[spoiler: Auggie is going off on his own to seek revenge. Annie knows something is wrong when he says . . .]]

** Apparently, in Italy it is "Pronto" leading to the joke where an American hears people use that word on the phone and assumes it means "hello". He approaches a woman and says "Pronto" and gets a slap in the face for it. "Pronto" apparently means "Ready".

* The book ''Nee Naw: Real Life Dispatches From Ambulance Control'' complains about [[TelevisionIsTryingToKillYou people copying the way TV characters do this]] with ''emergency calls'' of all things. "In {{soap|opera}}s, people often just call for an ambulance, bark an incomplete address and then hang up. And then, ''nee naw nee naw'', [[AmbulanceCut the ambulance arrives]]." In real life, the dispatcher needs to keep you on the line to provide details about the patient's symptoms, verify where you are and generally make sure the paramedics are as informed as possible by the time they arrive, in addition to talking you through any first aid that may be necessary. Only hang up when the dispatcher 'tells'' you you can hang up.